Life in the military is not just about being in the service. The families of the troops face a unique set of circumstances far different from the civilian world. Home Post writes about all aspects of military life and how it is represented in media and pop culture.

LATEST POSTS

Service members and veterans face a unique set of health care issues, whether its PTSD or TBI. Home Post covers these health issues, as well as any changes to the benefits troops and vets rely on – like TRICARE and military pensions.

RELATED TOPICS

LATEST POSTS

San Diego is home to several major military installations, like Camp Pendleton and Naval Base San Diego. Home Post covers important issues that touch the lives of service members and their families who call these installations home.

LATEST POSTS

Post-9/11 veterans face a unique set of issues, like post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, and unemployment. Home Post reports on what affects the veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also remembers the sacrifices of the veterans who came before them.

Meribeth Russell sited a statistic about Freedom Dogs of which she is most proud.

“Nothing is guaranteed, and there are always people you wish you could’ve done a little more for. They’re like family and we follow them for life. But I can tell you we’re 100 percent in one regard- not one of our participants has committed suicide.”

When Carlos first started attending training sessions at Freedom Dogs, he felt he didn’t fit in. Big reason: Carlos was afraid of dogs. He didn’t like them, and he believed they didn’t like him. In the tough, gang-infested Chicago streets where Carlos grew up, dogs were treated more as weapons than pets.

A big part of Freedom Dogs is getting a shell-shocked troop to trust him or ...

Without the distractions of combat, symptoms of PTSD began plaguing Carlos’s everyday life. He began to drink heavily to blot out the depression and anxiety he was feeling.

And the guilt.

When Carlos was in Iraq, he didn’t know the villagers were mostly uneducated and illiterate. The Iraqis traveling the road it was his job to protect couldn’t read the signs posted by the American military.

In the days following the suicide car bombing in 2004, Carlos didn’t feel angry. He didn’t feel frightened. He didn’t even mourn the men who were so brutally killed that day. Carlos didn’t feel anything at all. He was completely numb.

He learned to detach himself from his own well-being. He accepted what he assumed was his impending death; it was clear to him he would ...

There was a shyness about Carlos, despite his intimidating appearance. Muscles earned from years of required physical fitness bulge under his black shirt, his sleeves pushed up to his elbows to reveal a maze of tattoos covering both of his forearms.

Shiny rhinestones rested in each of his earlobes, and a steal post pierced the area below his lower lip.

I first met Carlos Cruz in 2012, the Sunday after the Fourth of July, and two weeks after he officially retired from the Marine Corps.

It took quite a few email exchanges to nail down the time and day of our meeting. One of the most marked symptoms of the Traumatic Brain Injury Carlos suffered in the suicide attack was his inability to remember small details.

“A man, well, he'll walk right into Hell with both eyes open. But even the devil can't fool a dog.” -Earl Hamner, Jr.

PART II

The Mercedes, filled with what turned out to be 200 pounds of explosives, smashed into the Humvee. The blast incinerated both vehicles. The only part of the Humvee that remained was its sizzling engine block.

“A man, well, he'll walk right into Hell with both eyes open. But even the devil can't fool a dog.” -Earl Hamner, Jr.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) have been called the hallmark wounds of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. According to a 2008 Rand study, one in five American service members who’ve been deployed in the post-9/11 wars suffer from ...

About Home Post

Home Post explores military life and military families in San Diego. Blogger Beth Ford Roth was born into a military family, and has covered issues important to servicemembers and their loved ones for many years. She has worked as a broadcast journalist in both commercial television and public radio.

Support Home Post

FOLLOW US

ABOUT THIS SITE

Home Post explores military life and military families in San Diego. Blogger Beth Ford Roth was born into a military family, and has covered issues important to servicemembers and their loved ones for many years. She has worked as a broadcast journalist in both commercial television and public radio.

Nearly three dozen U.S. troops, including some based on the USS Carl Vinson from San Diego, were named on a "hit list" by the self-proclaimed Islamic State terror group, according to the Marine Corps Times. Read more →